How to Completely Lock Down Your iPhone’s Lock Screen

There’s no doubt that the iPhone lock screen packs a lot of functionality. That’s a fact that was only made truer with Apple’s overhaul introduced in iOS 10. You can view the contents of and reply to messages, see notifications, access Siri and see tons of information at-a-glance with Widgets — all without having to unlock your phone.

Of course, for those who are more privacy-minded, there’s a chance that this ready access to information can be worrying. Alternatively, if you’re ever in a position where you leave your phone lying around, it might be smart to lock down certain lock screen features to keep both friends and strangers from taking a peek at your data.

Here’s how to completely lock-down your lock screen. Of course, these are drastic measures — so feel free to pick and choose the options that seem most applicable to you.

Turn off Message Contents on the Lock screen

Open Settings

Go to the Notifications menu, navigate to and find the Messages app.

Scroll down to the bottom.

Toggle Show Previews to off.

If you use Facebook Messenger, too, follow these steps.

Open Facebook Messenger.

Tap on the ‘Me’ icon in the top-left corner.

Tap on Notifications.

Toggle the ‘Show Previews’ option off.

Disable ‘Reply with Message’

Open Settings

Tap on Touch ID & Passcode.

Navigate to ‘Reply with Message’, and toggle it off.

Disable Notifications on the Lock Screen

Open Settings.

Navigate to the Notifications menu.

Select any app in question, and toggle the ‘Show on Lock Screen’ option to off.

Disable Lock Screen Functionalities

Open Settings.

Tap on Touch ID and Passcode.

Enter your passcode.

Navigate down to the ‘Allow Access When Locked’ submenu.

From here, you can go all-out and disable access to everything. Or, you can simply pick and choose which ones you want to lock down.